With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.

Do you accumulate lots of electronic stuff? Do you wish you could keep it altogether in one place and synchronize it with your laptop, mobile devices, and desktop computers? If so, Evernote is for you. According to my interview with Phil Libin, Evernote's CEO, "We had a good year in 2008. We raised money to get through this difficult economic period. And I am optimistic. The big idea behind Evernote is that a few billion people want a better brain. People need to deal with more stuff and process more stuff. They need an external brain to store and recall the stuff they want to remember."